Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
May 09, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
It was the PPPC which began the practice of hosting post-Cabinet press conferences. And since the PPPC ruled for 23 unbroken years, the media has become accustomed to these weekly diatribes.
The media likes ready-made news. It does not require much investigation. Post-Cabinet press briefings provides multiple stories for the media, stories which they do not have to go digging to find.
The media’s penchant for pick-up news is however not being fed. The PPPC is yet to hold a post-Cabinet press briefing, despite promising to do so.
Two years into Ali’s term and not a single post-Cabinet press briefing has been held. There are a number of reasons to consider as to why the Irfaan Ali administration has not as yet commenced the hosting of post- Cabinet press briefings.
In the past the post-Cabinet press briefings were weekly affairs. They took the form of press conferences which were hosted by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat and one-time Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon. After there was a court challenge to him holding the latter post, he was said to have resigned the latter post.
There was always a good representation at these briefings. The media never seemed bored or disinterested, despite the fact that Luncheon is known to be a long-winded speaker and could drool on and on.
At times Luncheon would be assisted by Kwame McCoy but it was always Luncheon who held the gallery’s attention. Luncheon was referred to as both the Head of the Presidential Secretariat and the Secretary to the Cabinet or Cabinet Secretary as it is sometimes referred to.
The Constitution of Guyana actually makes the post of Secretary to the Cabinet a public office. And it is the Secretary to the Cabinet who has responsibility to communicate decisions of Cabinet to authorised persons; presumably the President can also instruct that decisions of Cabinet be relayed to the media via the post-Cabinet press briefing. But that is not the principal role of the Cabinet Secretary.
There has been no announcement as to who is presently the Cabinet Secretary. A Minister or Member of Parliament cannot be appointed as Cabinet Secretary since the post is a public office.
The Opposition seems to prefer tabling motions rather than questions in the National Assembly. The latter is a more effective strategy even though it does not lead to a debate. But it is a tool which is sparingly employed by the Opposition.
In the present instance, it should be. The Opposition should ask that the government identify the Cabinet Secretary, if there is one in place and, if not, to demand to know when such an appointment will be made.
The PPPC is not expected to hand such a position to anyone whom it does not trust fully. It had total confidence in Luncheon and so he was entrusted with the permanent task of hosting these press briefings. Over time he developed an excellent rapport with the media despite at times him being very evasive.
The Constitution requires that the Cabinet Secretary be a public office. This means that Ministers cannot hold such an office. And given that some of the PPPC’s trusted lieutenants are presently Ministers, this excludes some of the frontrunners such as Gail Teixeira one of the longest serving members of the Government.
The Constitution also dictates the functions of the Cabinet Secretary. While hosting post-Cabinet press briefings is not specifically stated as a function, it is also not excluded.
The Constitution states that the Secretary to the Cabinet is in charge of the Cabinet Office and is to be responsible “in accordance with such instructions as may be given him by the President, for arranging the business for, and keeping the minutes of, the Cabinet and for conveying the decisions of the Cabinet to the appropriate person or authority and shall have such other functions as the President may direct.”
Even if it has identified a person to be Cabinet Secretary, that person is not likely to be given the authority to host press briefings. It is not like the PPPC to give such an important responsibility to someone outside the party’s inner circle.
But, also, there is no reason why only the Cabinet Secretary should host post-Cabinet press briefings. The briefings can be hosted by someone else.
Cabinet Office is supposed to be part of the President’s Office. It is time for the modernisation of the Office of the President. And the best place for this modernisation to begin is through the reinstituting of Cabinet Office and the identification of someone as Cabinet Secretary, someone who is not a Minister.
It is time also that the task of engaging the media about Cabinet matters be placed in the hands of professionals. As was previously indicated in this column, the President has a Press Secretary and a Deputy Press Secretary. Their job titles alone indicate more than a passing competence in hosting press briefings. In the USA, some press briefings are hosted by White House Press Secretaries.
There is no reason why either or both of these persons should not be hosting post-Cabinet press briefings. Two years is long enough. The media is becoming impatient.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Jan 20, 2025
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